I'm Alan Landers

You probably know me best as the 'Winston Man.' And ironically, I'm now a lung cancer survivor.

For over two decades, celebrities have entrusted Coping® to tell the world about their personal experience with cancer. We are proud to present this exclusive interview from our archives and hope that it will inspire and encourage all who read it. This article was originally published in Coping with Cancer magazine,
September/October
2000.

I live in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida,
and I am 57 years old. I am a
professional actor, model, and
acting teacher. Over the years,
I appeared in various motion pictures
(Stacey, Annie Hall), television shows
(Ellery Queen, America's Most Wanted)
and advertising campaigns (United
Airlines, Brill Cream, Winston cigarettes, Tiparillo cigars).

I began smoking when I was nine
years old, shortly after my father died.
Everybody on TV and in the movies
smoked - John Wayne, Montgomery
Clift, Natalie Wood; you weren't considered a real man unless you were
smoking. The hazards of cigarette
smoking had not yet come to the
public's attention, and the tagline for
Lucky Strike cigarettes was "Lucky
Strike, the healthy smoke."

During the height of my acting
and modeling career, I was courted
by R.J. Reynolds to appear as the
"Winston
Man." I did
the majority
of the print
ads for the
R.J. Reynolds
tobacco company in the late
1960s and
early 1970s,
appearing on
billboards and
in magazines
holding a
Winston cigarette and urging others,
young and old, to smoke. I was
expected to portray smoking as stylish, pleasurable, and attractive.

In this reprint of a vintage poster, former
"Winston Man," Alan Landers, promotes
the glamour of smoking. If he only knew
then what he knows now.

I was required to smoke on the
set to achieve the correct appearance
of the cigarette ash and butt length.
Despite working closely with cigarette
company personnel during the shootings, at no time was I ever told that
cigarettes could be dangerous to
my health.

Looking back on my career,
I am ashamed that I helped promote
such a lethal and addictive product
to the children and adults of this
country. Had I understood then what
I now understand - that cigarettes
are an addictive poison that can kill
many of their users - I never would
have participated in their mass
marketing.

In 1987, the hazard of cigarettes
became tragically apparent when I
was diagnosed with lung cancer.
Although my odds of surviving lung
cancer were poor, I was determined to
beat them. In a painful and dangerous surgical procedure, my doctors
removed a large section of lung, hoping to remove the cancer from my
body. After the surgery, I lived from
examination to examination, hoping
the cancer would not recur.

In 1992, I received the devastating
news that another cancer had formed,
this time in my other lung. The only
hope was more surgery, which was
accomplished only with major complications. A nerve leading to my vocal
cords was cut, causing it to be almost
impossible to speak normally, a crushing blow to an actor.

I am extremely short-winded
because sections of both lungs have
been removed, and I also have emphysema from cigarette smoking. Scars
from the surgery wrap around my
back, permanently disfiguring me.
In October of 1996, I had open-heart
surgery and a double bypass, a residual effect linked to smoking. I feel
lucky to be alive and I am hoping
for the best.

Since my lung cancer surgeries,
I have learned a great deal about the
true dangers of cigarettes and the
deceit of the industry that sold them.
I never understood how lethal the
product really is. Looking back,
I recall smoking on the eve of my first
surgery. I was a strong-willed person,
but the addictive power of nicotine
is real. My frustration about being
unable to quit is shared by many,
if not most, regular smokers.

I have donated my time to the fight
against tobacco and to protecting children from becoming involved with
this dangerous drug. I have addressed
the U.S. Senate Democratic Task
Force on Tobacco and the Florida
Legislature and have appeared numerous times for the American Cancer
Society, the Tobacco-Free Coalition,
Citizens Against Tobacco, and on
national and local television and radio
shows. I have committed myself to
bringing the message of the real risks
involved in smoking to the public,
particularly kids.

I call upon the lawmakers of this
country to protect our children from
this dangerous substance. Tobacco
products should be regulated by the
FDA as the addictive drugs they are.
Tobacco advertising should be eliminated or strictly curtailed. I call upon
the tobacco industry to compensate its
victims, its former customers, who are
suffering and dying from its products.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

This article was published in Coping® with Cancer magazine,
September/October
2000.